China Air to Pay $90 Million in U.S. Antitrust Settlement

May 9 (Bloomberg) -- China Airlines Ltd. agreed to pay $90
million to settle a lawsuit that claimed it conspired to fix
prices on air cargo shipments, following 21 earlier settlements
by other airlines.

The shipping customers who brought the suit asked a federal
judge in Brooklyn, New York, yesterday to approve the latest
settlement in a case initially brought against more than two
dozen carriers worldwide.

The accord with Taoyuan, Taiwan-based China Airlines brings
the total value of the settlements in the cases to more than
$835 million, lawyers for the customers said.

The latest agreement “brings additional compensation to
the many thousands of businesses harmed by this global
conspiracy to inflate prices for air-shipping services,” Hollis
Salzman, co-lead counsel for the plaintiffs, said in a
statement.

In separate criminal probes, 21 air cargo carriers have
pleaded guilty to participating in the conspiracy and agreed to
criminal fines of more than $1.8 billion, according to the
plaintiffs.

Roscoe Howard, a lawyer for Air New Zealand, declined to
comment on the case. Lawyers for the other airlines didn’t
immediately return calls seeking comment.

Previous Accords

Previous accords involved airlines including Lufthansa
Cargo AG, Societe Air France, Qantas Airways Ltd. and British
Airways Plc, according to settlement filings. Of the previous
settlements, 18 have received final approval from a judge,
according to court documents. Three have received preliminary
approval, the complainants said.

Shipping customers sued the airlines in 2006 alleging that
they were fixing prices through surcharges related to fuel costs
and security following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in
the U.S.

In addition to paying $90 million, China Airlines will
provide $200,000 for settlement notice and administration costs
and will cooperate in the case against the remaining companies,
the complainants said.

The case is In Re Air Cargo Shipping Services Antitrust
Litigation, 06-md-1775, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of
New York (Brooklyn).